William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (409 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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Exit Emilia
(
Aside
) This is the night
That either makes me or fordoes me quite.
Exeunt
5.2Aside
) This is the night
That either makes me or fordoes me quite.
Exeunt
Enter Othello with a light.
⌈
He draws back a curtain, revealing
⌉
Desdemona asleep in her bed
OTHELLO
It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul.
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars.
It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore
Should I repent me; but once put out thy light,
Thou cunning‘st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have plucked thy
rose
I cannot give it vital growth again.
It needs must wither. I’ll smell thee on the tree.
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars.
It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow,
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore
Should I repent me; but once put out thy light,
Thou cunning‘st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have plucked thy
rose
I cannot give it vital growth again.
It needs must wither. I’ll smell thee on the tree.
[He kisses her]
O balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword! One more, one more.
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee
And love thee after. One more, and that’s the last.
Justice to break her sword! One more, one more.
Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee
And love thee after. One more, and that’s the last.
He kisses her
So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow’s heavenly,
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes.
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow’s heavenly,
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes.
DESDEMONA Who’s there? Othello?
OTHELLO Ay, Desdemona.
DESDEMONA Will you come to bed, my lord?
OTHELLOHave you prayed tonight, Desdemon?
DESDEMONA Ay, my lord.
OTHELLO
If you bethink yourself of any crime
Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace,
Solicit for it straight.
Unreconciled as yet to heaven and grace,
Solicit for it straight.
DESDEMONA
Alack, my lord, what may you mean by that?
OTHELLO
Well, do it, and be brief. I will walk by.
I would not kill thy unprepared spirit.
No, heavens forfend! I would not kill thy soul.
I would not kill thy unprepared spirit.
No, heavens forfend! I would not kill thy soul.
DESDEMONA
Talk you of killing?
OTHELLO Ay, I do.
DESDEMONA Then heaven
Have mercy on me.
OTHELLO Amen, with all my heart.
DESDEMONA
If you say so, I hope you will not kill me.
OTHELLO Hum!
DESDEMONA
And yet I fear you, for you’re fatal then
When your eyes roll so. Why I should fear I know not,
Since guiltiness I know not, but yet I feel I fear.
When your eyes roll so. Why I should fear I know not,
Since guiltiness I know not, but yet I feel I fear.
OTHELLO Think on thy sins.
DESDEMONA They are loves I bear to you.
OTHELLO Ay, and for that thou diest.
DESDEMONA
That death’s unnatural that kills for loving.
Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip?
Some bloody passion shakes your very frame.
These are portents, but yet I hope, I hope
They do not point on me.
Alas, why gnaw you so your nether lip?
Some bloody passion shakes your very frame.
These are portents, but yet I hope, I hope
They do not point on me.
OTHELLO Peace, and be still.
DESDEMONA
I will so. What’s the matter?
OTHELLO That handkerchief
Which I so loved and gave thee, thou gav’st to Cassio.
DESDEMONA
No, by my life and soul. Send for the man
And ask him.
And ask him.
OTHELLO
Sweet soul, take heed, take heed of perjury.
Thou art on thy deathbed.
Thou art on thy deathbed.
DESDEMONA Ay, but not yet to die.
OTHELLO Presently.
Therefore confess thee freely of thy sin,
For to deny each article with oath
Cannot remove nor choke the strong conception
That I do groan withal. Thou art to die.
For to deny each article with oath
Cannot remove nor choke the strong conception
That I do groan withal. Thou art to die.
DESDEMONA
Then Lord have mercy on me.
OTHELLO I say amen.
DESDEMONA
And have you mercy, too. I never did
Offend you in my life, never loved Cassio
But with such general warranty of heaven
As I might love. I never gave him token.
Offend you in my life, never loved Cassio
But with such general warranty of heaven
As I might love. I never gave him token.
OTHELLO
By heaven, I saw my handkerchief in’s hand.
O perjured woman! Thou dost stone my heart,
And makes me call what I intend to do
A murder, which I thought a sacrifice.
I saw the handkerchief.
O perjured woman! Thou dost stone my heart,
And makes me call what I intend to do
A murder, which I thought a sacrifice.
I saw the handkerchief.
DESDEMONA He found it, then.
I never gave it him. Send for him hither.
Let him confess a truth.
Let him confess a truth.
OTHELLO He hath confessed.
DESDEMONA
What, my lord?
OTHELLO That he hath used thee.
DESDEMONA How, unlawfully?
OTHELLO Ay.
DESDEMONA He will not say so.
OTHELLONo, his mouth is stopped.
Honest Iago hath ta’en order for’t.
DESDEMONA
O, my fear interprets! What, is he dead?
OTHELLO
Had all his hairs been lives, my great revenge
Had stomach for em all.
Had stomach for em all.
DESDEMONA (
weeping
)
weeping
)
Alas, he is betrayed, and I undone.
OTHELLO
Out, strumpet! Weep’st thou for him to my face?
DESDEMONA
O, banish me, my lord, but kill me not.
OTHELLO (
attacking her
) Down, strumpet.
attacking her
) Down, strumpet.
DESDEMONA
Kill me tomorrow; let me live tonight.
OTHELLO Nay, an you strive—
DESDEMONA But half an hour.
OTHELLO Being done, there is no pause.
DESDEMONA But while I say one prayer.
OTHELLO It is too late.
He smothers her
DESDEMONAO Lord, Lord, Lord!
Emilia at the door
EMILIA (within)
My lord, my lord, what ho, my lord, my lord!
OTHELLO
What noise is this? Not dead? Not yet quite dead?
I that am cruel am yet merciful.
I would not have thee linger in thy pain.
So, so.
I that am cruel am yet merciful.
I would not have thee linger in thy pain.
So, so.
EMILIA (
within
) What ho, my lord, my lord!
within
) What ho, my lord, my lord!
OTHELLOWho’s there?
EMILIA (within)
O, good my lord, I would speak a word with you.
OTHELLO (
calling
)
calling
)
Yes.—‘Tis Emilia. (
Calling
) By and by!—She’s dead.
’Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio’s death.
The noise was high. Ha! No more moving.
Still as the grave. Shall she come in? Were’t good?
I think she stirs again. No. What’s best to do?
If she come in, she’ll sure speak to my wife.
My wife, my wife! What wife? I ha’ no wife.
O insupportable, O heavy hour!
Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse
Of sun and moon, and that th’affrighted globe
Should yawn at alteration.
Calling
) By and by!—She’s dead.
’Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio’s death.
The noise was high. Ha! No more moving.
Still as the grave. Shall she come in? Were’t good?
I think she stirs again. No. What’s best to do?
If she come in, she’ll sure speak to my wife.
My wife, my wife! What wife? I ha’ no wife.
O insupportable, O heavy hour!
Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse
Of sun and moon, and that th’affrighted globe
Should yawn at alteration.
EMILIA (
within
) I do beseech you
within
) I do beseech you
That I may speak with you. O, good my lord!
OTHELLO
I had forgot thee.—O, come in, Emilia.—
Soft, by and by. Let me the curtains draw.
Soft, by and by. Let me the curtains draw.
He closes the bed-curtains
Where art thou?
He opens the door. Enter Emilia
What’s the matter with thee now?
EMILIA
O my good lord, yonder’s foul murder’s done.
OTHELLO What, now?
EMILIA But now, my lord.
OTHELLO
It is the very error of the moon,
She comes more nearer earth than she was wont,
And makes men mad.
She comes more nearer earth than she was wont,
And makes men mad.
EMILIA
Cassio, my lord, hath killed a young Venetian
Called Roderigo.
Called Roderigo.
OTHELLO Roderigo killed
And Cassio killed?
EMILIA No, Cassio is not killed.
OTHELLO
Not Cassio killed? Then murder’s out of tune,
And sweet revenge grows harsh.
And sweet revenge grows harsh.
DESDEMONA O, falsely, falsely murdered!
EMILIA O Lord, what cry is that?
OTHELLO That? What?
EMILIA
Out and alas, that was my lady’s voice!
⌈
She opens the bed-curtains
Help, help, ho, help ! O lady, speak again!
Sweet Desdemona, O sweet mistress, speak!
⌈
She opens the bed-curtains
Help, help, ho, help ! O lady, speak again!Sweet Desdemona, O sweet mistress, speak!
DESDEMONA
A guiltless death I die.
EMILIA O, who hath done this deed?
DESDEMONA
Nobody, I myself. Farewell.
Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell!
She dies
Commend me to my kind lord. O, farewell!
She dies
OTHELLO
Why, how should she be murdered?
EMILIA Alas, who knows?
OTHELLO
You heard her say herself it was not I.
EMILIA
She said so, I must needs report the truth.
OTHELLO
She’s like a liar gone to burning hell.
’Twas I that killed her.
’Twas I that killed her.
EMILIA
O, the more angel she, and you the blacker devil!
OTHELLO
She turned to folly, and she was a whore.
EMILIA
Thou dost belie her, and thou art a devil.
OTHELLO
She was false as water.
EMILIA Thou art rash as fire
To say that she was false. O, she was heavenly true!
OTHELLO
Cassio did top her. Ask thy husband else.
O, I were damned beneath all depth in hell
But that I did proceed upon just grounds
To this extremity! Thy husband knew it all.
O, I were damned beneath all depth in hell
But that I did proceed upon just grounds
To this extremity! Thy husband knew it all.
EMILIA
My husband?
OTHELLO Thy husband.
EMILIA That she was false to wedlock?
OTHELLO
Ay, with Cassio. Had she been true,
If heaven would make me such another world
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite
I’d not have sold her for it.
If heaven would make me such another world
Of one entire and perfect chrysolite
I’d not have sold her for it.
EMILIA My husband?
OTHELLO
Ay, ’twas he that told me on her first.
An honest man he is, and hates the slime
That sticks on filthy deeds.
An honest man he is, and hates the slime
That sticks on filthy deeds.
EMILIA My husband?
OTHELLO
What needs this iterance? Woman, I say thy husband.
EMILIA
O mistress, villainy hath made mocks with love.
My husband say she was false?
My husband say she was false?
OTHELLO He, woman.
I say thy husband. Dost understand the word?
My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago.
My friend, thy husband, honest, honest Iago.
EMILIA
If he say so, may his pernicious soul
Rot half a grain a day. He lies to th’ heart.
She was too fond of her most filthy bargain.
Rot half a grain a day. He lies to th’ heart.
She was too fond of her most filthy bargain.
OTHELLO Ha?
EMILIA Do thy worst.
This deed of thine is no more worthy heaven
Than thou wast worthy her.
Than thou wast worthy her.
OTHELLO Peace, you were best.
EMILIA
Thou hast not half that power to do me harm
As I have to be hurt. O gull, O dolt,
As ignorant as dirt! Thou hast done a deed—
I care not for thy sword, I’ll make thee known
Though I lost twenty lives. Help, help, hot Help!
The Moor hath killed my mistress. Murder, murder!
As I have to be hurt. O gull, O dolt,
As ignorant as dirt! Thou hast done a deed—
I care not for thy sword, I’ll make thee known
Though I lost twenty lives. Help, help, hot Help!
The Moor hath killed my mistress. Murder, murder!
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